At Water's Edge
by livelyfingered
Summary: "Can't let me what, Austin? It's not like, you know, I'm going to fall or anything." Austin takes Ally on a boating trip, but something goes terribly wrong. AustinAlly.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Shoutout to Sarah! We love our OTPs. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Is this really necessary? There's a reason I'm writing **_**fanfiction**_**, after all. :P**

"I thought this trip was supposed to help me _relax_!"

Austin let out an overdrawn sigh and tiredly ran his fingers through his hair, struggling to contain the frustration threatening to boil over.

"Yeah, but I can't let you—"

"Can't let me _what_, Austin? It's not like, you know, I'm going to _fall _or anything."

At the mention of Ally's chronic clumsiness, they became uncomfortably quiet until Austin finally broke the tension.

"Okay, _fine_, but promise me you'll—"

"Thank you, thank you, _thank you_! You're the best guy friend ever."

"Wait, let me finish laying down the ground rules! Be careful, balance yourself, and above all—"

But she was already clambering onto the seat of the canoe.

"Don't take off the lifejacket!"

He fidgeted nervously as she began to bounce on her toes in excitement. She was eager to see the mountaintop, and this was her opportunity to prove that she wasn't just an uptight music freak. She had _fun_ in her. Yes, ladies and gentleman, this was Ally Dawson in all her glory, craning her neck to get a better glimpse of the ice-laced peaks—

_Splash_. And as chance had it, she just _had _to slip.

And he just _had_ to dive in after her, even though she was obviously wearing a lifejacket.

"Austin, stay with the boat! I'm fine!"

He was already shoulder-deep in murky lake water, spluttering and gasping for breath in his romantic quest to save his damsel – but he would never admit that – bashfully grinning when he realized that his heroic actions had gone unnoticed.

The duo gaped in horror at the figure of their boat drifting beyond reach.

"Nice job, Austin. _Now_ what do we do?"

"Um…get to shore?"

**Hehe, review… **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: OH MY OTP FEELS.**

**There might be some suggestive moments here – they're not explicit, but not totally subtle either…so I changed the rating from K+ to T. Let me know what you think – I don't want to go against the policy! **

"Austin, are you even_ listening_?"

"Well, just in case you couldn't tell, I'm sort of _piggybacking you to shore_ here."

"Not my fault—"

"Hmm, let me think. Who's the one that _can't swim_?"

"Oh, you mean Trish?"

"Stop being smart, Ally."

"You know I can't help _that_."

Silence. He didn't want to ruin the rapport they had established – oh, the _irony_ – but he needed to get them to dry land. Suddenly he realized that he should have kept track of the direction he'd been swimming in, and in a fleeting moment of panic, he froze up and stopped kicking.

"What are you _doing_?"

"S-sorry, I – uh, I forgot what I was doing."

He started treading towards the nearest strip of sand. She saw how exhausted and desperate he was, so she let him off the hook.

A peaceful silence engulfed the two, sending both of them into a moment of absentmindedness. Then, out of nowhere—

"Um, Ally?"

"Yes?"

"You're clamping too hard on my…um—"

"Oh – oh, I'm so sorry! Seriously, I didn't mean anything by it, I was just trying not to slip off, you know, because then I would have had to—"

"Relax, Ally." His signature smirk crossed his face – after all, he'd just made Miss Ally Dawson _incredibly_ flustered. His inflating ego didn't go unnoticed by his favorite songwriter, however, because –

"Austin, just get us to shore."

"Sure thing, milady."

"_Austin_!"

"Okay, okay. I'm on it."

"Good."

An awkward pause, then –

"Hey, Ally."

"What?"

"You're still pressing too hard."

A beat of silence, then –

"_Relax_, Austin, maybe you like it that way."

**Peace out, fellow Ausllies! Review…**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Aw, you guys – thank you so much for the reviews and love. Here's another chapter! Things are heating up...**

"_Hey – I will always stay – by your side forever – 'cause we're better together –_"

"Austin? I think we can walk now."

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

He let out a nervous laugh as he stood up in the water, letting Ally slip off his back as he did so. They proceeded to trudge slowly towards land, listening to the soft sopping of the swirling sand.

"You know," he croaked, "the best thing about singing is that you can bring it with you anywhere you go. Like, I didn't want to bring my guitar because I was afraid it would get wet – and you couldn't bring your piano because it was way too heavy."

"Yeah. But singing poses other problems."

"Like what?"

"Like – having to face the audience instead of staring at your instrument."

"Oh, yeah." He didn't push it.

"And also, you can't sing very well if you're sick – Austin, you're catching a cold. I can hear it in your voice."

They dragged themselves up onto solid sand, and Ally immediately collapsed.

"But, Ally – we have to look for food! Oh, and since we left our phones in our backpacks, which are still in the canoe…"

"Hey, Austin. How 'bout taking a nap with me? _Alternatively_, you could just be quiet for a few minutes while _I_ take a nap."

One second, two seconds, three – then –

"Austin, you know I didn't mean it like that. Jeez, you boys and your hormone-addled minds."

"What _didn't _you mean, Ally?" He was teasing her, and she knew it.

"You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about."

"No, no – I really don't. Please enlighten me, _oh wise lady_, _target of my affections_, _paragon of virtue_ –"

"Whoa, there. Taking it too far, tiger. I must say, though, I'm pretty impressed with your vocabulary. Have you been working on it?"

"Nope, but I have been working _out _on something _else_…"

There was _no _way she could ever miss that giveaway glimmer in his eye.

"Been prepping for the SATs, huh, pretty boy?" She poked him playfully in the ribs.

"Maybe, maybe not." He cracked a sheepish grin, slightly shocked at her use of such language – _pretty boy_? He much preferred_ tiger_.

"Well, I better get my nap, because a sleepy Ally is a cranky one. Do you want to go look for food or something?"

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot we were stranded." That did it. Ally's eyes widened momentarily as she fully comprehended the idea that _they were actually lost_ –

"Oh my _gosh_, Austin – get to work! We need food – there should be some blackberry bushes out here – and we need to dry off our clothes – quickly, take off as many pieces of clothing as you can, or you'll start sneezing –and we need some dry place to sleep. Come on, _come on_, what are you _waiting _for?"

"Just calm down. We need to sit down and think through what we're going to do."

"Wow, thanks a lot, Mister Voice of Reason."

He let out a hearty laugh, then leaned over and whispered into her ear, "I'd take up your offer for a nap _anytime_, Ally."

_Slap_. Oh, it was _so_ worth it.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Aw, thanks so much for your support! On with the story…**

"Austin, what time is it?"

He squinted down at his wristwatch, silently thanking the heavens that it was waterproof.

"Eleven o'clock."

"Thanks."

"Oh, that reminds me – we'd better get something for lunch."

She turned on her heels to glower at him.

"And just _what _is there to eat?"

He put his hands up defensively, wondering if maybe it was _that_ time of the month or something.

"Okay, Ally – whatever you say."

She caught the edge in his voice.

"Look – I'm sorry. I know I've treated you like crap for the past few hours, and I'm really, really sorry. It's just – it's just that I don't know what to do, you know? Usually I'm in total control, and here I just can't find my way out of this mess, and I can't help you with your Boy Scout survival skills, and I miss my dad and I miss Trish – oh, and I always miss my mom, but you know that – and I just can't deal with it, you know? I'm sorry, Austin."

He was paralyzed. He didn't know how to handle stressed teenage girls, and he didn't know how to respond to her ranting. He thought about what blond guys did in movies if they wanted to comfort girls – he could flip his hair and put an arm around her…

Or he could kiss her. Yeah, that ought to do it.

Gently, ever so gently, he reached out and touched her shoulder, causing her to turn around again. In one swift motion, he wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her oh-so-close, shivering at the contact…

It wasn't until she was _tugging at his hair _that he realized how necessary oxygen was to survival, and how they'd both asphyxiate if they kept this up. So he broke apart from her, gasping out a brief, "I don't want us to suffocate," before realizing how idiotic that had sounded.

"Way to ruin the moment, Austin."

**Would you look at that – some real action, yeah? Review…**


	5. Chapter 5

**Let's all take a moment of silence for those who have been affected by the hurricane.**

**A/N: I really can't thank you enough for the feedback and encouragement I've received for this story. With a busy academic and extracurricular schedule, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to update on weekdays, but I'll do my best to do so on weekends.** **Thanks again!**

"I'm putting my jacket here to dry…and then I'll just be over there…yeah."

"Austin – we need to talk."

His shoulders sagged. In the movies – jeez, he needed to stop using rom-coms for girl advice – this was when the girl broke up with the guy. _It's not working out_, she'd say, or maybe _I'm just not feeling this, you know?_

"I'm all ears." There really was no point in avoiding the inevitable, after all.

"Austin, what is this?"

"Huh?"

"Like, what is this that we have? Are we just friends – or maybe friends with benefits? Or, um, you know…is this something more?" She didn't mean for that last part to sound so hopeful, and she shrunk in embarrassment under his intense gaze.

He had _totally_ thought too much into the implications of her first question. His shoulders sagged again, this time in relieved relaxation.

"Well – whatever _this _is, I'm glad it happened."

She'd been going for something else. Not to be overly-enthusiastic or anything, but _Austin Moon's girlfriend_ had a nice ring to it – but then again, she did appreciate individuality, and _Ally Dawson, Austin Moon's girlfriend_ was just as good. Oh, and of course she'd need to add something, like _Ally Dawson, Austin Moon's girlfriend and songwriter_…did _songwriter_ or _girlfriend_ take precedence?

"Ally, you do realize that you've been thinking aloud, right?"

_Oops. _Her cheeks flared bright pink and she stared at her nails, at a complete loss for words. He grinned down at her.

"Hey, you know what? _Austin Moon, Ally Dawson's boyfriend_ has a nice ring to it, too."

**Yeah! What did you think? What should happen next (or is this a sufficient ending)? Hmm, maybe some of you want to see some more lip action…*wink wink* **

**Hehe…thanks, everyone.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks for your wonderful feedback!**

**Note: This will probably be the final chapter…but I'll be back! I'm thinking of trying my hand at oneshots (short and sweet) or drabbles (yeah, the ones that *technically* need to be exactly 100 words…I'll have fun with that). Keep your eyes peeled for more livelyfingered (that's me!) updates and stories, though. Thanks again for all your support. (Peace out!)**

"I know _I'm _getting sick of blackberries. What about you?"

How were they ever going to get out of this mess? They had wandered aimlessly for a few hours – although it had, of course, felt like eternity – trying to coax their hunger away with sour, under-ripe blackberries. Austin had identified a few bushes of what were _probably_ blueberries, but neither of them wanted to test that hypothesis.

"Ally, you didn't answer my question." But she didn't respond, so he tried again.

"Now you know how _I _feel when you won't let me eat in the store."

"Austin—I can't _believe _you're still thinking about food when we can't even get home! What are we going to do? Come on, help me think!"

"I'm not sure I can do that," he grumbled, and luckily she didn't hear.

"Which direction are we heading, Austin? We need to stop and really understand where we're going and where we want to be."

"I know where _I _want to be."

"And where's that?" She wasn't even listening to him.

"…With you." He braced himself for a wide variety of reactions – he was ready for an indignant slap, or a playful punch, or even love-struck cooing…

"You're _so_ cheesy." He wasn't entirely prepared for that one, but he managed to make a quick recovery anyways.

"But you _like _cheesy, right? _Te gusta_ _caseoso_?"

"Austin, using Spanish on me is _never_ going to work."

"Okay, um…_tu aimes fromage_?"

"Well, yes, I like _cheese_, but you need to work on your French."

"We can work on that later, yeah? So, uh, you could _tutor_ me in French?"

"Let's talk about that later, lover boy."

"Does that mean I can call you lover girl?"

"…It doesn't work that way, Austin. Our relationship is _complex_, okay? That means we can't explain this with gooey, vague terms like _love_… we have more of a _romantic_ _tendency_, but I don't think it has developed enough, if you know what I mean. That doesn't mean I don't _like _you…"

"Well, then. Looks like I have some _work_ to do. Hmm… how to make your songwriter fall in love with you… well, I should start with a kiss, yeah?"

Austin's status: oxygen-deprived.

Ally's status: with Austin.


End file.
